The Candidates
by SquigglyCrunch
Summary: The story of Dennis Soldier, a huntsman who is subjected to multiple trials along with other candidates to determine who is worthy of the ultimate prize. But when the trials prove themselves to be much too difficult, a new goal is decided: survive at all costs. A HellFall side story (my other fanfiction). Contains bloody and gory violence, some language, and mild suggestive themes
1. Chapter 1

The letter arrived one crisp winter morning, as I sat down to eat breakfast. I reached into my pantry, pulling out a box of cereal as I looked the envelope over. It was addressed to 'Dennis F. Soldier', which was my name.

I set the letter down to pour my cereal. I've received mail on multiple occasions, so I wasn't particularly eager to pry open the paper which divided me from its contents. Nevertheless, I was curious. Who sent the letter? Why? What does it say? The questions could wait, which is exactly what they did.

As I sat down to eat my milky brand breakfast, I reached out and opened the letter. Inside the printing was very neat, hand-written it appeared to be. I felt a shiver of anticipation run through my spine. Rarely did I receive a hand-written letter. Clearly, this was important.

Flattening the letter so that it'd be easier to read, I ran my eyes over it, absorbing every word.

It was an invitation, specifically from a man referring to himself as Rocco Trask. He was inviting all the most skilled huntsmen and huntresses in all of Remnant. Apparently I was among a select few people whom were qualified for this. It was a test, he said, to see who truly was the strongest in the world.

I'd only won one Hunter's Tournament, how is being noticed because of one win is beyond me. But either way, the appreciation certainly was flattering.

"Well?" I asked, "What's the plan? Go with it?"

"Hmm" Floyd wondered aloud.

"Oh come on Floyd!" I called out, "Use that head of yours!"

"I don't know," Floyd said, "I mean, how did this Rocco person know my address?"

"What does it matter?" I asked, "All the more reason to go. Clearly he wants us there badly"

"And if it's a trap?" Floyd asked.

"Then we kill 'em!" I replied, "Simple!"

"...Alright, let's give it a try" Floyd finally decided.

"Where does it say we need to go again?" I asked, looking down at the letter for the second time this morning. "Right here in Atlas eh? Sounds good to me"

I finished my cereal quickly, eager to face the trials that would soon be presented to me.

* * *

I found the address that very same day, having brought nothing but Serpent's Stinger, my weapon. The letter told me not to bring anything but my weapon, and that the trials would start when everyone arrived.

I stopped at the door of a short cube-shaped building on the corner of the block. Tapping on the door, it was soon opened by a man with pale grey short hair, tan skin, and glasses. His cat-like eyes were yellow, which caused me to wonder if he was a Faunus of some kind. He wore a simple dark grey long-sleeved shirt and baggy faded blue jeans covered in tears and holes. He seemed quite tired and slouched as he looked me over.

"Oh," He started, "you're here. Come on inside"

I followed him in eagerly, wondering if I was the first person here but knowing it deep down.

He led me into the first room: it was square-shaped with an open doorway on either far wall. We walked through the doorway on the right, entering yet another square room with the exact same layout as the last one, only with the doorways behind us. The man waddled to the far corner of the room and got down on his knees,

 _What's going on?_ I wondered.

 _Seems suspicious, perhaps we should leave_ , Floyd suggested.

 _Are you kidding me?_ I asked, _Aren't you even a wee bit curious?_

 _I'm just saying that it's probably not-_

I cut him off, _Don't be such a pansy, Floyd!_

Floyd sighed, _Fine, but don't blame me if you get yourself killed_

 _Not everything is incredibly dangerous, Floyd, quit overreacting._

The man lifted a trapdoor out from the floor, one that was almost invisible. I hadn't even seen it.

"Right down here." The man said, crawling aside to let me through, "There's a ladder"

Right below the last rung was a room, yet another square-shaped one. In the far corner was a heavy door.

"Sorry about the inconvenience," the man told me, "the whole area is underground, and we need some protection, for our safety and for yours of course"

 _Seems shifty, we should probably leave,_ Floyd said.

"It's no problem" I replied, ignoring him.

The grey-haired man strode towards the far door, me in tow. Sliding a small key into a small keyhole, the man cracked open the massive steel door and entered. Floyd convinced me to enter cautiously, so I did.

"What is this this place?" Floyd asked.

The room was a large curved path, with a fenced in balcony on the right side and a long screen stretching across the left wall. Underneath the screen is a silver control panel, wrapping all the way around the wall. It's covered in buttons, knobs, and switches. Three men sat in ragged black office chairs, sliding about and pressing an assortment of buttons.

"How's it coming?" The grey-haired man asked another man who was swiveling about in his chair.

"Still working on it," he replied, "I think we're close though"

The guide looked over the code flying across the screen, then leaned over and tapped a few buttons.

"Try that" he suggested, straightening but refusing to tear his eyes from the screen.

"Sounds good" the man said, continuing off of whatever he had typed.

He pointed a long skinny finger at the screen for a moment, then nodded, "Good." He said, "Once you finish that up, go take a nap and get something to eat"

"Thank you sir" the man said, continuing to type, not even looking up at him.

He pat his shoulder, "Doing good" he said, moving along, looking over the rest of the screen, occasionally nodding.

All the while I followed him, not sure what was going on.

As we reached the end of the room he turned around, "Oh," he said, looking at me as if for the first time, "your still here"

"You haven't told me to go anywhere" Floyd pointed out.

"Very true Mr. Soldier." He said, waving a long finger at me, as if he was drunk, "Come, I'll introduce you to the rest of the candidates"

He walked around me lazily, slouching over and curving his arms back by his sides.

I followed, confused.

"I'm Rocco Trask by the way." He said as we walked, "It's a pleasure to meet you"

"Is everyone here already?" I asked, almost ignoring what he'd just said.

"Mostly." He replied, "We're waiting for two others after you"

"How many did you call?" I asked

"Just five." He replied, "You're the third to arrive thus far"

We arrived at a door next to the one we'd entered through and Rocco pulled it open, revealing an elevator on the other side.

"Like I said, it's all underground" Rocco said.

 _Like is said, shifty._ Floyd said, _Look at this rickety old elevator. Should we really-_

I cut him off, _Shut it, Floyd, its fine,_ I said.

Rocco walked in, the elevator shaking as he entered. For a moment I questioned it, and Floyd tried to take advantage of that. I quickly shut him up and headed inside, shaking uneasily as I did so.

Rocco closed the door and pressed a button. Slowly we began to descend further below the surface of Remnant.

"So why did you call us here?" Floyd asked, "Other than to test our abilities"

"You mean what are my ulterior motives?" He asked, snickering, "I'll tell you once everyone arrives. For now I'll just tell you that it's a test"

"What're you testing exactly?" Floyd persisted, despite knowing full-well that Rocco would not reveal anymore.

"I'll tell you once everyone arrives." He replied, as I suspected, "As I just said"

"Why are you hiding it?" Floyd asked.

"I'm not hiding anything Mr. Soldier," He replied, "Honestly, it's just way easier to explain it once instead of five separate times"

 _Yeah Floyd, don't be such a spazz,_ I thought.

 _Better safe than sorry_ , Floyd said, after which he was silent.

The elevator gave one final jolt as it stopped on the lowermost floor. Rocco reached out and pushed the door open. Stepping aside, he let me out first.

The room before me was dim, with candles dotting the brown stone floor and small cliffs lining the rocky walls. The whole room was just a cave, with a tall ceiling and multiple old chains hanging from it. The floor was completely smooth, but the walls weren't so much. Overall, the room was very empty, save for the candles.

I stepped through the open doorway, off the elevator and into the cave. As I stopped to marvel at the sight, Rocco slid past me and kept walking. Following after him, I realized that at the end of the long room was a tall, dark opening, reaching almost halfway up the wall to the ceiling.

"Just through here is where everyone else is waiting" Rocco told me as we neared the dark hole in the wall.

Reaching the passageway we walked through it, taking only one turn, which would explain why nothing but darkness could be seen from the front.

The darkness opened up quickly into another room, one with a massive electrical light dangling from the ceiling. It cast a glow over the center of the cavern, where I could see two people seated on rocks, staring at the ground, occasionally moving their lips. They looked up as we approached.

"How're you doing here?" Rocco asked the two.

One nodded, "Fine, I guess" He replied.

"I'm not particularly enjoying myself, but it's clear that you don't really care" The other, a woman, replied.

Rocco stopped, allowing me to walk towards them.

"This is Hawksbill." Rocco said, gesturing to the man. "And this is Maud. Make yourself at home, as best you can, and hope that everyone else arrives quickly"

At that he turned and slunk back into the darkness.

I turned to the two others before me. Hawksbill had a slim build and lightly tanned skin. His hair was almost black, but still brown and long, spiking out around the back of his head. He wore a black skin-tight sleeveless shirt that only covered the upper half of his body. Overtop he wore a faded and torn jean vest, and on his legs similar jean pants, only they were tighter and only went to his knees. He wore a black fingerless gauntlet with four colored dials along it; red, green, yellow, and white, over his forearm and palm. I assumed it had to do with whatever dust was inside. His weapon was attached across his back. It appeared to be a simple, smooth, silver bow staff.

Maud, on the other hand, was more muscular and darker skinned. She was covered from head to toe in chain mail armor, including a hood. It almost appeared to just be a robe of silver chains. Hanging from her shoulders to her waist were belts covered in small black metal hammers with spiked backs. She held onto the handle of her weapon, which appeared to be one of her hammers, only much bigger. It was upside down, and she leaned a bit on it.

Glancing down at myself, I felt much less prepared. I wore my black square-framed glasses over my grey eyes. My dark green hair was unbrushed and spiked out all over the back. I had quite pale skin as well. I wore a dark green pullover hoodie with a dark grey interior, and a black vest covered in pockets overtop. On my lower body I wore black cargo pants covered in empty pockets. My weapon, Serpent's Stinger, was a long katana with a small shotgun barrel at the tip. The blade was divided into sections which split apart and allowed the blade to extend.

"What do they call you?" Hawksbill asked me.

"Dennis Soldier" I replied.

"Hawksbill Stars" he said, holding out his hand. I reached out and shook it.

 _He seems decent. Well-mannered at the least,_ Floyd thought.

I looked over at Maud. "Maud Freeze" she said simply.

 _Her not so much,_ Floyd thought.

"Just two more it seems" Hawksbill said, sitting back down. Maud followed suit. Looking around, I found a rock and sat down.

"So what's your weapon there?" Hawksbill asked.

 _Don't tell him, we want to win remember?_ Floyd told me.

 _We're not going to be fighting him._ I pointed out, _Most likely at least. We're competing against him, it won't hurt. Chances are he'll tell us what his weapon is all about afterwards._

"This is Serpent's Stinger" I replied, drawing the long katana blade.

Hawksbill held out his hand, "May I?" He asked.

 _No._ Floyd replied.

"I'd rather you didn't." I replied, sheathing the blade, "This is a competition, after all"

"It's not like we're fighting each other or anything." Maud said, "Or at least, not likely. That'd be stupid. Probably just some Grimm or something. Last man standing wins"

"I don't know." Hawksbill suggested, looking around, "This place is pretty elaborate. I think there's more than meets the eye"

Maud adjusted herself slightly, "Maybe" She replied. Her voice let on that she agreed with him, but wasn't willing to admit it.

There was a brief silence.

"So," Hawksbill started, continuing with his attempt at conversation, "Whereabouts are you from?" He asked me.

"Here." I replied. "Atlas"

"Were you raised anywhere else?" He asked, sounding somewhat dissatisfied with my answer.

"Were you always this nosy?" Floyd asked.

"Oh, sorry." Hawksbill apologized, "Touchy subject?"

"I'm not here to make friends." Floyd replied, "I'm here to compete. Sentimentality will lead to weakness, and I can't have anything slowing me down"

Hawksbill raised his eyebrows, smiling with surprise, "Wow, okay." He said, laughing a little, "Got to admit, I did not expect that"

"Oh snap" Maud said quietly in the background.

"Oh, sorry about Floyd." I said, catching myself, "He's a little dramatic. No, I was raised here in Atlas. Went to Island and Continent Academy"

"Floyd?" Hawksbill asked, "Who's that?" He glanced behind me, assumingly not seeing anyone before returning his gaze to me.

"He's my dad." I replied, "Sometimes he gives me advice. He's a little skeptical though"

"Oh" Hawksbill replied, seeming to realize.

"So where is he?" Maud asked, "I don't see anyone else"

"He's dead." I replied, "But he communicates with me telepathically or something. It's kind of confusing"

 _Why are you telling them so much?_ Floyd demanded.

 _Why do you care?_ I asked.

"So you're crazy or something?" Maud asked.

Hawksbill gave her a look of disapproval, but soon turned back to me, curious as well.

 _Who do these people think they are?_ Floyd asked, pushing his way from my brain to my mouth.

"Who do you think you are?" He asked. "Butting into my personal life and mocking me like that!"

 _Get out of here Floyd! I'm fine!_ I told him.

 _It's your funeral_ , He replied.

"Sorry, that was Floyd again." I said, "No, it's my father. I'm quite certain of that"

"Humph" Maud grunted, sounding neither satisfied nor angry with my answer.

I heard footsteps and turned, but couldn't see anything in the darkness. Soon two figures appeared in the light, a woman and Rocco.

"This is Aero everyone." He said, then turned to each of us, introducing us to her, "Maud, Hawksbill and Dennis"

Aero was a tall thin woman with long pale blue hair and pale skin. She had large pale purple eyes and freckles covering her face. A pair of small rounded rectangular glasses rested on her nose. She wore a blue and pale blue striped long-sleeved shirt, where the sleeves only went past her elbows, as if the shirt was too small, and a white open button-up shirt over top with no sleeves. The white shirt had two breast pockets; one on each side. She wore pale blue skinny jeans and white sneakers. Her attire was rather casual, as if she didn't expect anything in particular to happen today. I couldn't even see a weapon on her, and wondered if she actually knew what she was getting into.

Her hands were clasped together as she looked over us.

"Make yourself at home, as best you can" Rocco said before leaving.

"Thank you" She said to him, turning back to us. "Hello, I'm Aero Simms"

"Dennis Soldier" I said.

"I'm Hawksbill Star" Hawksbill said, standing and reaching out to shake her hand. She blushed and shied back, staring at his hand awkwardly. He pulled it back shortly afterwards.

"Maud Freeze" Maud said, staying where she was, seated on her rock.

Hawksbill sat back down, and Aero stayed standing. No one questioned it; clearly she was sensitive about what she touched.

"Just one more then" Hawksbill stated.

"Thanks Captain Obvious" Maud said.

He didn't make a comment.

"So whereabouts are you from Aero?" He asked the newcomer.

"Here in Atlas." She replied, "Born and raised right here"

Hawksbill nodded, seeming to approve of her answer.

 _What was so wrong with ours? Huh?_ I wondered. _Why didn't he approve of our answer but did hers?_

 _'Cause you were much less happy about it_ , Floyd pointed out.

 _You mean_ you _weren't too happy about it_ , I corrected him.

 _Whatever_ , he said.

"I don't see any weapon on you." Maud said, craning her neck to look at her back, "Hey, watchya got there?"

She blushed again, looking nervous suddenly and reaching back to cover her rear end.

"What?" Maud asked, "I wasn't checking you out, you know. You're not even my type. I saw a weapon there"

 _Maud's gay? Ha!_ I laughed mentally.

"Oh," Aero withdrew her hands from her body, "I'd rather not show you. It is a competition after all"

 _Clearly someone knows what they're doing,_ Floyd thought, _smart girl._

"Fair enough." Hawksbill said, "Dennis here said the same thing"

Aero glanced over at me. I looked over out of the corner of my eye. Immediately her eyes shot in another direction.

 _Sensitive eh?_ I thought.

Suddenly I heard heavy footsteps. All our eyes turned. _Another? Already?_ Floyd thought _._

Rocco appeared shortly after in the light, followed by another tall man.

"This is Cerberus, everyone." He said, gesturing to the large man behind him. "Cerberus, this is Maud, Hawksbill, Dennis, and Aero"

We all just stared at him, and he stared down at us. He had lightly tanned skin and a heavy, rectangular chin. His eyes were narrow and colored crimson, and his hair was the same color. It was slicked back with lots of product that made it appear shiny, and reached down past his neck. He wore a black muscle shirt over his large, muscular body and black jeans on his legs. Over his shirt he wore a thick black coat with deep violet stripes running down it. On his wrists were leather brown gauntlets that appeared to be made from fabric, with straps tying around it and hanging off in various places. He had similar boots, only the bottoms were thicker and more solid looking. He didn't appear to have a weapon in any obvious places on him.

"We'll be starting shortly." Rocco said, "Come with me" He started walking past us, into the darkness. We all got up and followed.

"Hey, Rocky," Maud started, "I can't see"

"None of you can." He replied, "I can though, just follow my voice"

"Your voice won't tell us where the rocks and holes are in the ground" Maud muttered.

"You'll live" was all he said.

I heard her muttering under her breath a bit more, but nothing understandable.

"Stop here" Rocco said. I heard something tapping, and then an illuminated doorway opened up. I reached up to shield my eyes from the sudden burst of light, but quickly recovered. Before me now was a jagged tunnel of rocks, stalagmites and stalactites, and small electric lights dotted sparsely along the ceiling.

"The trials will be on the other side." Rocco said, "After you, Hawksbill"

Hawksbill nodded to him, stepping through. Maud followed, then me, then Aero, and Cerberus was last.

Suddenly the door slammed shut behind us. We spun around, seeing a smooth wall before us. Cerberus turned back around, facing us again. "No turning back now" He said.

"Wonder what that was all about" Hawksbill said.

"Are you stupid?" Maud asked, "This is the trial. Clearly we have to keep moving"

"Seems logical" Floyd said.

"Then what're we waiting for?" Hawksbill asked, "Let's get a move on!"


	2. Chapter 2

We'd been walking for only about five minutes before Hawksbill began to interrogate us more vigorously.

"So Cerberus," He had started, "where're you from?"

"Atlas" He replied simply.

"Were you raised anywhere else?" He asked.

"No" Cerberus replied.

"Oh." Hawksbill said, "So you know the place pretty well eh?"

No reply.

"Hey dummy," Maud started, turning her head. She somehow ended up leading the group, "can you shut up? This is a competition, not a friend circle"

"I'm just trying to get to know some people." He replied, "Who knows how long we'll be stuck with them"

Maud snorted, continuing to walk. Looking up from the ground, I saw that she was strapping metal gauntlets to her wrists.

"Where'd those come from?" Floyd asked her.

"What?" She asked.

"The armor" He replied.

"I've been wearing it this whole time dummy." She replied, "Jeez, you really don't pay attention do you?"

"No," Floyd said, "The gauntlets. I didn't see them when I first came in"

"They're heavier," She replied, "and make more noise. So I typically take them off when I travel, but put them on when I fight. Chances are that's what we're doing"

I looked down again, noticing that she wore greaves as well. "Interesting." Floyd replied, "Where are you storing them though?"

"That's irrelevant" She replied, a steel chest plate suddenly appearing in her hand. She strapped it onto her body, then produced a helmet and placed it atop her head. There was a small spike sticking out from the top.

As she strapped the helmet around her neck she glanced back at me. "What're you staring at?" She asked, turning to look forward again.

"I'm still trying to figure out where you put your stuff" Floyd replied.

She sighed, "It's my semblance." She replied, "I'm able to change the size of things. I store my armor in my pocket and pull it out when the time comes"

"I see." Floyd replied, "Then why don't you do the same with your hammer?"

"Intimidation." She replied, "If I can avoid fighting in the first place, then I don't even need to put on my extra armor. Besides, using my semblance takes energy"

"Makes sense" Floyd replied.

"I'd hope so" She replied.

Meanwhile Hawksbill continued drilling Cerberus with questions.

"So what's your semblance?" He asked.

"None of your business" He replied.

"What's your weapon?"

"None of your business"

"What's its name at least?"

He paused for a second, "None of your business" He finally replied.

Hawksbill sighed, "What about you Aero? What's your weapon's name?"

She blushed and looked down, "Um," She started, "Kin of Iron"

"That's a pretty sick name," He said, "can I see?"

"I'd rather not show you" She replied.

"Alright" He replied.

"Open room up ahead!" Maud called back.

I looked up, seeing exactly what she'd described. She stopped, forcing the rest of us to do the same. The room had an uneven floor and the same kind of walls. At the end was an open doorway.

"It's obviously a trap." Maud said, looking around the room. On each wall a dark hole was located. "I'll set it off" She started forward, into the room.

"And if you die?" Floyd asked.

"Please," she replied, "it's the first room. Besides, you guys need to see what a real fighter looks like"

We all stayed back. I wasn't going to hurt myself if I didn't need to. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea.

Maud reached the center of the room and looked around. Sure enough, two Grimm appeared in either hole in the wall. She reached back, drawing her hammer. She held it with both hands, facing the Grimm on the left side of the room. It jumped and landed down on the ground and started towards her slowly.

It was an older Beowolf, covered in skeletal armor and spikes. Clearly it was put here unnaturally, as Beowolves generally weren't underground. It growled, staring her down.

Maud angled her hammer to do a diagonal uppercut. I heard a slight click, and the front of the hammer began to glow orange. Smoke began to steadily rise from its jagged surface.

The Beowolf charged, claws raised and mouth gaping, its fangs shining and dripping with saliva.

At just the right moment, Maud swung her hammer, ripping the Grimm's head off with its sheer heat and force. I heard another growl and turned my head, seeing the other Grimm, another similar Beowolf, was right behind her. I was about to call out when I saw her strategy. She swung her hammer diagonally, killing the first Grimm and allowing the momentum of her weapon to spin her around. Angling the hammer slightly, she slammed it down onto the second Grimm's head while it was still in mid-air, blending it with the rocky terrain.

The hammer cooled down almost immediately. She drew it from the ground and swung it over her shoulder, turning to look at us. She smirked, "Don't see that every day, eh?"

We all walked into the room, "Nice" I said simply. Everyone else nodded to her as they walked by. Her attack was impressive, but it was nothing we hadn't seen before or couldn't have thought up ourselves. She seemed slightly aggravated by our lack of reaction, and followed after us, frowning. She grunted with disapproval and replaced her hammer on her back.

We continued through the doorway, leading us to another tunnel. Now I was leading the group. _Assuming I'll have to fight next_ , I thought, _considering the first few rooms shouldn't be much of a challenge._

The tunnel made a sharp turn to the left. Hawksbill decided to start interrogating the others again, so I tuned him out.

 _You sure you don't want to get to know these people at least a little?_ Floyd asked me.

 _Of course not,_ I replied, _this is a competition, it'll be over before you know it_.

 _But just in case…_ Floyd trailed off.

 _I can barely stand the people already,_ I pointed out, _get off my back!_

 _You mean you can't stand Hawksbill?_ He corrected.

 _Shut up_ , I replied.

Still, I found their conversation broke through the shield I'd set up in my brain.

"I don't think I ever heard your full name Cerberus" Hawksbill said, clearly implying that he wanted to know his full name.

Cerberus didn't reply.

"What is it?" Hawksbill verified.

"Cerberus Emil Witch" He replied.

"That's a pretty cool name." Hawksbill said, "Wanna know mine?"

"No" He replied.

"Hawksbill Sheldon Stars." He said anyways, likely not expecting the response he got. I didn't understand how he couldn't have anticipated it, but I guess he was just a little stupid, "Pretty lame eh?"

He didn't reply.

"You know what'd make you look good?" Hawksbill started, "A hat. Like one of those black witch hats, only not as big and the top cut off. You know what I'm talking about? Maybe with some stripes to match your coat?"

"It'd interfere with my ability to see." He replied, "Plus it'd wreck my hair"

Hawksbill laughed, "Ha, I think you've got enough gel in there to keep it rock hard even if you bashed your head against a wall"

Cerberus's fist shot out, punching the back of Hawksbill's head. He stumbled, "Ah, what the heck?!" He demanded, his voice suddenly sounding more agitated than I'd ever heard it.

"Don't mock me" Was all Cerberus said.

Hawksbill stopped and turned to face him, "Mock you?" He asked, his voice laced with anger, "I was making a joke"

"Then you need to retake Comedy 101" Cerberus replied.

"Hurry up" Maud said, having stopped behind them. I stopped to watch too though, mostly out of curiosity. So did Aero, but she kept her distance from all of us.

"What was that?" Hawksbill demanded, craning his neck and placing his hand over his ear, as if he hadn't heard him the first time.

"Then you need to retake Comedy 101" Cerberus repeated calmly.

"I'll have you know I've been doing stand-up comedy for the past three years, and I make a killer profit off of it!" He pointed out. I was surprised, but at the same time wasn't. People probably liked him because he was so annoying that it could sometimes be considered funny.

"Comedy's clearly gone downhill since I was a kid" Cerberus said.

"What kind of crap did you have as a kid, huh?" Hawksbill asked.

"Vadik Romanov" He replied.

Hawksbill was about to make a retort, but then stopped himself before continuing again, "I haven't even heard of him, so clearly he's not that great!"

"That's because he's dead." Cerberus pointed out, "He was old even when I was a kid"

"Clearly he wasn't good enough for my parents to ever care to watch him!" Hawksbill retorted. It wasn't a great comeback, but it was kind of accurate.

"That's because your parents weren't cool" Cerberus simply said, as if it was obvious.

"Oooh" Maud said from behind the large man.

"Of course they weren't," Hawksbill tried to recover, "they're my parents!"

"So why'd you try to use them as a comeback?"

Hawksbill pursed his lips together, trying to find something to say. Nothing seemed to come to mind, because he spun around in a huff of frustration, "What does it matter?!" He asked, continuing down the tunnel, "Move it!"

As I started walking again I saw a slight smile curve Cerberus's lips.

The tunnel bent right slowly.

"Oh come on!" Maud exclaimed, "Why'd we turn earlier if we're just going to turn right back in the same direction?"

"To alter the area we end up in?" Floyd suggested, "Or to spice up the walk a little?"

"Adding a handful of turns won't 'spice things up' idiot" She said angrily.

"Oh I feel like it did." He replied, "Would we be having this conversation if we hadn't turned?"

Maud frowned. Floyd made me smile.

I saw an opening ahead and prepared myself to have to fight.

"I'll take this one" I said as we neared the room.

"Fine by me" Hawksbill said.

Once we reached it I looked around, seeing that the room was much bigger than the last one. I stepped out into the middle, seeing at least four holes on each side of me. Reaching back to grasp the handle of The Serpent's Stinger, I spun around, taking time to look over each hole.

 _This room's much bigger than the last_ , Floyd pointed out, _be on your toes. Chances are there'll be more than just two_.

"Thanks Captain Obvious" I said out loud.

"Who're you talking to?" Hawksbill asked, looking around the room.

"He's mentally unstable," Maud called from the back of the group, "remember?"

I barely heard them, I was too focused.

"Maybe the room's empty?" Hawksbill suggested.

"Are you stupid?" Maud asked, "It's obviously full of Grimm, or at least a few"

I was starting to sweat. I could feel the Grimm moving around below my feet. It certainly didn't sound like a handful of Beowolves.

Suddenly I heard several loud screeches. Aero covered her ears, "Loud noises." She said, "Loud noises!" She was quite clearly uncomfortable.

As quickly as the screeches had come the Creeps appeared, appearing from the holes in the walls and pouring out. There were at least two to three coming out of each hole. Serpent's Stinger was out, my finger on the trigger hidden right under the guard.

Hawksbill started into the room, but Cerberus held him back. "Let's see what he does" He said simply. Hawksbill stopped, knowing that whether or not he agreed with the large man that he couldn't move.

I barely heard them, my focus was one-hundred percent on the Grimm around me. There were over ten of them, crowding around me and growling.

Two charged out from behind me. I felt the ground vibrate and turned my body slightly, slipping between them and swinging my extendable katana with wicked speed, slicing both in two pieces.

I heard Hawksbill gasp behind me.

Just like that the musty air was full of their screams as they charged all at once. My pointer and middle finger flew into the air, and the world appeared to slow down around me. Scanning the battlefield, I saw several openings between the Grimm. Running towards the right, I dropped to my butt, sliding underneath their gaping mouths and dark bodies. Flailing around my blade, I sliced at least four Creeps into enough pieces to send them back to where they'd come from.

I found myself in a corner and stood, blade in hand and pointed right at the group. They crashed into each other in confusion, but quickly recovered and spun to face me. Stretching out my two fingers again, time slowed in my eyes. Charging forward, I swung my blade, pulling the trigger at the same time over and over again. My blade cut through the first wave, and the bullets tore apart the second. When I appeared on the other side of the room I turned around, seeing a beautiful display of blood red rose petals floating into the air as the Creeps evaporated into nothingness.

Sheathing Serpent's Stinger, I turned to face the group again. "Let's get going then" I said, waving my hand to gesture for them to follow.

Hawksbill just stared. Cerberus pushed him and followed after me. Aero lowered her hands from her ears and followed. Maud came out from the back of the line.

Cerberus nodded as he walked past me. Maud smiled, "Nice" She smirked.

I nodded, "Thanks," I said, turning back to the two remaining candidates. Hawksbill had closed his mouth and was walking towards me. Aero was almost halfway across the room.

"Good job" She said without making eye contact.

"That was rad" Hawksbill said, slapping me jokingly on the back.

"Thanks" I replied.

"How'd you do that?" He asked, "Is your semblance, like, speed or something?"

"Something like that" I replied.

 _Why don't you just tell him?_ Floyd asked.

 _This is still a competition, remember?_ I pointed out, _Sure, I feel good right now, but that's no reason to let my guard down_.

 _Hmph_ , Floyd snickered, _looks like I'm rubbing off on you_.

 _Don't get too full of yourself old man_ , I told him.

Now I was at the back of the group, and Cerberus was leading. I got the feeling that we'd all be fighting together soon enough though, considering the last room. The first room was just a warm-up, to show us what we're up against. The rest of the trials wouldn't be so easy, that I knew.


	3. Chapter 3

"So where'd you get trained again?" Hawksbill asked me, craning his neck to look at me behind him.

"Atlas Academy" Floyd replied,

"Nice." He said, "They must have good professors"

"Where'd you go?" Floyd asked.

"Beacon." He replied, "Way out in Vale. My little bro's moving up there next year too"

"You have a little brother?" Floyd asked.

"Yeah," he replied proudly, "Bole's his name. He looks exactly like me, and chances are will do better than I ever did"

"Why's that?" Floyd asked.

"Because he's my little brother!" He replied, "I've been teaching him all kinds of things. He even made a weapon based off of mine. It's not as advanced, but it's still a piece of weaponized art"

"I see." Floyd said, "So you're pretty confident in him, aren't you?"

"Very!" He replied excitedly, "What about you? Got any siblings?"

"An older sister." Floyd replied, "Her name's Teagan"

"Is she a huntress like you?" He asked.

"I'm not a huntress." I pointed out, "I'm a huntsman. Is it really that hard to tell?"

"No sorry," Hawksbill replied, "thought you'd catch on"

"I did." Floyd replied, "And no, she wasn't a huntress. She attended Island Academy, but never graduated into Beacon or any other academy. She's a nurse in a local hospital now"

"Cool." He said, "That's certainly a good paying job. Any idea why she didn't pursue hunting?"

"She didn't get accepted." I replied, "So we went to medical school instead. She wasn't always the strongest anyway, always had a knack for healing. That was her semblance, after all"

"Well that's convenient" Hawksbill pointed out.

"Yeah," Floyd replied, "She only uses it when she needs to though, it really drains her energy"

"Makes sense." He said, "So what was her weapon in Island?"

A naginata," Floyd replied, "with a curved golden blade at the top. She called it 'Krysanthe'"

"No gun?"

"She was always one for the classics"

"More of a retro person eh?" He asked, "Those are pretty rare these days"

"The thing was super long anyways," Floyd pointed out, "and it could extend to about fifteen feet or so"

"Wow," he said, "how would she carry that?"

"It detracted to about four feet, which was the average length. Then she'd just store it on her back" Floyd replied.

"That's pretty crazy." He remarked, "And I thought Silver Star was long"

"That your weapon?" Floyd asked.

"Yeah," he replied, pulling it off his back and holding it out to me. "Silver Star. Made from diamond and coated in a layer of titanium"

"That's a pretty sturdy stick"

"Yeah, nobody's going to be scratching this guy anytime soon"

"Does it do anything? Or are you a retro person too?"

He snickered, "No," he replied, "but that's a secret, isn't it? After all, this is a competition"

"Right." Floyd replied, snickering. I could tell that he wasn't taking this seriously, but I stayed silent. "By the looks of it, this competition will be less competitive and more survival based"

"Maybe Rocco's testing our teamwork?" He suggested.

"I kind of doubt it" Floyd replied.

"Same here"

"Another room." Cerberus called, "Looks like there's a structure in the center"

I looked past Hawksbill, seeing a rectangular shaped corner above the ground, but that was it. Cerberus's huge body blocked it.

As the people ahead began to file inside, Maud exclaimed, "It's a table! And there's food!"

Reaching the room, I saw that it indeed was a table, with food lining the counters around the room. Quickly scanning the room, I saw no holes in the wall where Grimm could come out of.

Maud was already helping herself to all the food, but everyone else stayed away for a while.

She gorged it down quickly, throwing crumbs all about the table.

"What're you waiting for?" She asked us, turning around and seeing us watching her intently. I didn't know why everyone else was watching her, but I wanted to see if she'd die of poisoning. I assumed everyone was probably doing the same. She seemed fine, but I waited.

Hawksbill went and filled a plate for himself, then sat down next to Maud on the floor and started eating. "This is actually delicious" He said.

Aero hesitantly took some food, and I followed. Cerberus stayed where he was, his massive head almost reaching the ceiling.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" Hawksbill asked him.

He reached into his coat, drawing a packaged lunch he had hidden away.

"This is free food." Maud pointed out, "Let me repeat that. FREE food. Take it, save your lunch"

Cerberus waited, then placed his own lunch on the table and sat down. Opening it up, he drew out two sandwiches made with massive pieces of bread and started eating.

Maud sighed, turning away and further indulging herself in the food placed before her.

"I guess that this is a resting area" Hawksbill said.

"Most likely there's something bigger ahead" I added.

"That'd make sense" He replied.

"This place has been a breeze thus far, why would you guys think it'd get harder?" Maud asked, stuffing a loaf of bread down her throat. Somehow she didn't trigger her gag reflex. Maybe she didn't have one.

"The first room was a piece of cake," I pointed out, "the next room was much worse. Did you see how many Grimm there were?"

"Whatever." She said, "It's not like it'll be that difficult anyway"

"It seemed more natural in the last room." Aero said quietly. We all turned to her.

"How do you mean?" Hawksbill asked.

"The Grimm in the first room weren't naturally underground. They were Beowolves. In the second room there were Creepers. They came out quickly, as if there weren't any restraints. Similar to in nature, where the Grimm aren't controlled by anyone but themselves"

We all turned to look forward, not at anything in particular, just to think.

"That makes sense." I said. "So I guess the Grimm will decide how much more difficult it will be"

"Unless Rocco has strategically dug out these rooms." Aero continued, "To make sure that they get more difficult as they go on"

"That would also make sense" I said.

"Wait, wait, wait," Maud said, waving her hands at all of us, "we've only experienced two rooms, one of which was obviously controlled. I think we're jumping to conclusions here"

"It's all speculation." I pointed out, "We're preparing, just in case"

"Prepare for the worst, hope for the best" Cerberus plainly stated.

"Exactly, thank you Cerberus" Floyd said.

"Right" Maud replied, turning back to her food. She didn't try to argue.

As we finished up our food, we stood and got ready to head out. Maud replaced her helmet on her head and started down the tunnel first. Hawksbill followed after her, then me, Aero, and Cerberus taking up the rear.

The tunnel was very short. We turned a corner and arrived in a massive room, about the size of the Hunter's Tournament arena. We had to drop down out of the tunnel to reach the bottom. Holes covered the dome-shaped ceiling.

"I think we were right Maud" Hawksbill said, staring up at the ceiling, just like everyone else.

"We'll see" She replied.

As if on cue, the holes seemed to multiply, sliding across the ceiling.

"Please don't tell me those are Grimm" Hawksbill muttered.

They were. Hundreds of Arachnoirs (spider Grimm) crawled along the ceiling, making their way towards the bottom, where we were.

"Are you sure this isn't controlled Aero?" Maud asked, reaching back to grasp the handle of her hammer.

"It doesn't appear so." She replied, "They came out at the same time, as if on cue. Maybe there's something blocking the holes"

"Or maybe this is all arranged" Maud suggested.

"Guys, shut it." I said, drawing Serpent's Stinger, "Whether or not you guys were right or wrong, we've got one hell of an infestation on our hands"

"Don't try to make jokes at a time like this!" Hawksbill called out.

"Do you think I'm joking?" I asked, "Look at the ceiling!"

By now there were many already reaching the floor and heading towards us. We moved to the center of the arena, our backs facing each other. I heard the scraping of metal and sliding of steel on sheaths and covers. Everyone's weapons were out. I glanced around, seeing everyone's determination flaring off their eyes.

Aero seemed afraid, her whole body quivering next to me. Still she held her daggers firmly in her likely-sweaty palms.

"Stick with me" Floyd told her.

"What?" She asked.

"You're shaking." He said, "I'll watch your back if you watch mine"

"Sounds good" She replied. Her voice was totally calm, but her body said otherwise. _What's that about?_ I thought.

 _It's just the way she is_ , Floyd replied, _don't judge her_.

 _Shut up dad, we've got more pressing matters here_ , I pointed out.

 _Then stop thinking about it_ , Floyd replied.

 _I am_ , I said.

 _Good_.


	4. Chapter 4

The Arachnoirs were upon us, their multitude of limbs pulling them rapidly forward. Thousands of beady red eyes pierced my own, and many of them flexed their pincers, as if readying for their next meal. _I won't be your lunch, you filthy insects!_ I thought.

They were mere feet away from us when I charged, pointer and index finger raised to activate my semblance, which allowed me to view everything in slow-motion. To others I appeared to be extremely fast, but to me everything was slow.

The Grimm slowed around me, and I charged, swinging Serpent's Stinger like a whip over my shoulder. I sliced through several Grimm in seconds, and when I turned around I was surprised to find Aero right behind me. However, I knew better than to acknowledge her. Better to save my breath for the fight.

I swung my blade out, firing off multiple rounds into the massive evil spiders surrounding me.

Surprisingly, Aero charged into the fray, weapons drawn. It appeared to be two silver daggers with small straight carvings running along the sides of each blade. Instead of pointed tips there were short gun barrels, about an inch long each. She held them upside down in her hands, and a trigger protruded out from the bottom of each one's hilt. Her pointer fingers were placed right on those triggers.

Her body definitely wasn't shaking anymore. She was flying through the Grimm, slicing and blasting them to pieces. The Grimm tried attacking her from behind, but even that never worked. They simply bounced off when they were about a foot away from her. Typically she'd spin around and cut down that Grimm and continue cutting and shooting in that direction. Watching her fight was rather magnificent. She fought with grace, never stabbing, never sheer brutality; instead she spun, swung, sliced, shot on occasion when the job wasn't finished. Truly she was a much better huntress than I'd initially anticipated, and potentially even better than me.

I was lost in her technique. Soon she neared me and cut down several Grimm in my area.

"Keep your head up!" She called, "Remember you're supposed to look after me!" She winked.

I smiled, then turned so that we were back-to-back. The Grimm swarmed around us so thickly you could cut it with a knife, which is exactly what we were doing, only with much larger knives that had guns attached.

"Reloading!" I called, popping the magazine out from the bottom of Serpent's Stinger's hilt. Three Grimm swarmed on me. I swung out without reloading and sent them flying. Reaching into my vest pocket, I saw more Grimm approaching. My hand still in my pocket, I lashed out. The Grimm fell and evaporated. Finally the new magazine was in my hand, and the Grimm kept coming. "Can't I have some peace?" I asked, striking out my two fingers and slowing the Grimm. Watching the beasts as they descended upon me, I took my time reloading. After all, I deserved a break. Time returned to normal again for me, and I swung, cutting down the spiders in mid-air.

In the distance I saw Maud and Hawksbill fighting side-by-side. Maud's hammer was red-hot, as expected. The Arachnoirs melted away upon impact, and whatever was left evaporated.

Hawksbill was quite impressive as well. His Silver Star was coated in a crimson coat, with fire blazing off the shaft. He swung and spun it with extreme expertise, never burning himself, always burning the spiders. Many of the Grimm who burned ended up lighting the others ablaze, which led to an interesting chain reaction.

Cerberus, on the other hand, fought completely alone. And he was amazing. I could hardly see his weapon, so I slowed time and squinted, just to allow for more time to look. It appeared to be a simple silver pistol, with no cylinder or barrel, just a short blade that curved down and outwards under where the barrel would have been. A simple knife-gun for lack of better words. I couldn't even tell where the gun fired or got reloaded.

His hands flew around his gun as he moved it frantically, with insane speed and coordination.

 _Focus on the task at hand!_ Floyd commanded.

I looked up, seeing some Grimm slowly flying towards me, while others were running underneath the jumpers. Cutting them all down quickly, I continued fighting in regular time. Just in case, I needed to save my semblance for when I needed it most.

By the hour mark my arm was getting tired. _This isn't difficult_ , I thought, _this is tedious and tiring. What the hell kind of trial is this? Endurance?_

Suddenly I felt extreme pressure on my back and flew forward, into the crowd of Grimm. On instinct I flailed out, yanking the trigger. An opening cleared, and I landed on my hands. Quickly pushing myself to my feet, I continued to fight. I saw outlines surround Aero in bursts, sending Grimm flying backwards. Chances are that was what hit me. Her aura or something along those lines.

Either way, I continued fighting. Switching arms and reloading quickly, I kept swinging, now I had to watch my back more closely, and my energy drained much quicker than before. _How much longer is this going for?_ I wondered, looking up. Arachnoirs still streamed out from the holes in the ceiling. Not as quickly as before, but still steadily. I sighed with exhaustion.

"Think we should just run for it?!" Maud called, clearly as exhausted as I was.

"I'm game!" I called, turning to Aero. She wasn't listening. By now a full, faded white orb with a cracked pattern surrounded her perpetually. She was swinging wildly in all directions, red rose petals and limbs flying out all around her. Anything that touched her died. It was rather terrifying.

"Aero!" I called. No response.

Turning back to the others, I saw Maud already pushing towards the doorway. Hawksbill continued to fight, his staff now coated in a deep blue layer. He made small advances towards the door, however. Cerberus kicked several Grimm out of the way, a large explosion erupting down the newly created path. _Gun-boots?_ I wondered.

Aero continued swinging. I worried about what would happen if I tried to get her attention.

 _Just go for it!_ Floyd told me, _Look at the poor girl! She needs help!_

 _I highly doubt that_ , I pointed out.

I sliced through several more Grimm and reached out, only to be blocked by her force field. Slowing down time, I quickly made my way between the Grimm, as difficult as it was (especially where we were, near the wall where they reached the ground) and eventually stood before her.

"Aero!" I called. She glanced up, daggers still flying as if her arms were machines. "We're retreating towards the next door! You coming?!"

She nodded, turning around and heading towards the door. The orb around her rotated as she walked. I stayed behind her, walking down the path she created in her wake.

As we reached the door I saw the Grimm continuing to swarm behind us. Maud was already there, swinging her hammer wildly at the open doorway.

"There's a shield!" She called out to us, "I can't get through!"

Hawksbill took a swing. Nothing. The air showed no sign of a shield or any kind of barrier. The staff bounced off as if nothing had happened.

"How're we going to get out?" Hawksbill asked.

I turned to face the Grimm again. They swarmed around us, continuing out from the ceiling too.

Aiming Serpent's Stinger up at the ceiling, I fired out of desperation. The bullet flew up, then fell and hit another Grimm, killing it.

"What did that accomplish?" Maud asked me.

"Maybe if we could destroy the holes," I said, realizing that it was a stupid idea, but turning to her anyway.

She seemed unimpressed, "Seriously?" She asked, "Make the holes bigger? What kind of idea is that?"

"You got a better one?" I asked.

She sighed, "Fine," she decided, "let's get someone up there. Our guns aren't strong enough to reach it, clearly"

The Arachnoir were very close.

"Aero," I started, turning to her, "can you fend off the Grimm for now?"

She nodded, walking forward in her orb and swinging her daggers out again.

"Alright," Maud started, "who's going up?"

"The lightest," I replied, "easiest to throw"

I turned to Hawksbill, and everyone else's eyes followed.

He smiled, "Guess I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Not at all" Cerberus replied, reaching out and grabbing his waist between his thick hands.

"Careful" Hawksbill said.

The corner of Cerberus's lips curved into a slight smile.

"You won't be, will you?" He asked.

"Not at all" He replied, taking a step back, then whipping him into the air. He flew, but definitely not high enough.

Silver Star was out in an instant. His palms traced along the pole, extending it until it stabbed straight into the wall. The staff remained perfectly smooth, as if stretched by magic. He placed his hands on the shaft, and it shrank back to regular size. Drawing it out, he dropped and caught the hole it'd created in his hand. He jabbed the staff into the wall, threw himself up, then caught himself by sticking the staff back into the wall. He rinsed and repeated until he reached the ceiling.

Coating his staff in a brown-black layer, he extended in outwards with one hand and held onto a hole with the other. Then, after lowering the Silver Star, swung it upwards. His face went beet-red as he struggled to heave the long object upwards. Still, the ceiling and staff collided, and the rock crumbled.

It suddenly hit me that maybe he didn't know just to aim for the holes, and that my idea turned out to be horrible. "Watch out!" I called, diving to the side. Everyone else followed suit. The rocks fell all around us, crushing Grimm in their wake. Aero was fully protected it seemed, and probably didn't even notice.

I saw rocks falling down towards me, and knew there was no outrunning them. Turning, I leapt onto the boulders that'd already fallen behind me. Rocks still fell there, but I had a better chance of staying put and living than trying to outrun the freefalling landslide.

As the dust cleared I pushed myself up. Small pebbles fell off my back, and my glasses were coated with dust. I coughed, taking off my glasses and trying to blow the dust off, but it didn't do much, so I tried to scrub them clean with my dusty vest. Instead I scratched them, so I found a cleaner part of my clothing and rubbed it against the lenses. The dust cleared off, but the scars didn't.

Standing up in the rubble, I looked around. Hawksbill was still above me, pressed against the wall and still holding onto the hole in the wall. He was very obviously shaking, and slowly cranked his head to look down.

Other than him, I couldn't see anyone.

* * *

"Maud!" I called, clapping my hands around my mouth. "Aero! Cerberus!"

I saw some boulders shift and immediately ran over to help. Pushing with all my strength, I found Maud trapped underneath.

"This hurts like hell" she moaned as she crawled out.

"Did you see where the others went?" I asked.

"Nah," she replied, rubbing her backside, "I was a little distracted with the exploding ceiling, you know?"

"Right." I replied, turning and looking around. "Aero! Cerberus!"

"Dennis!" I heard someone call. It sounded like Aero.

"Aero!" I called, running in the direction of the voice. Maud's armor clanked as she followed after me. _I thought Aero would be fine with her force field_.

"Aero?" I called again.

"Dennis!" She called again.

I ran forward a little before catching a glimpse of her fingers poking through the cracks between the rocks below my feet.

"Hang on, we got you" I said, grabbing the boulder and pushing upwards. Maud came to stand next to me.

"Could you help?" I asked.

She reached out, placing her hand on the large boulder. "You're not lifting it" She replied. Her hand started glowing, and the rock shrank to the size of a pebble. Aero was underneath several smaller rocks, her hand elevated slightly, likely crushed between the now small rock and the one it rested upon. Her head faced upwards, showing her cracked glasses.

Hopping down, I lifted all the rocks off her. Maud shrank a few of the bigger ones. Once the rocks were removed I lifted her up out of the pit we'd now created.

"You okay?" I asked.

"I wasn't prepared for that." She replied, "An attack from above that is. My field wasn't strong enough above me"

"I'm not asking for a story," I said rudely, "how are you feeling?"

"I think I have a few broken bones. I'm not sure. Everything kind of hurts. A lot"

"Focus your aura." I said, "It'll take a while, but you'll be able to regenerate"

"What's going on?" Hawksbill asked, arriving on the scene, "How's everyone doing?"

"Aero's not doing so hot" I replied.

"Dang, sorry about that" He said.

"It's fine," she replied, "I'm at fault here"

"Are you kidding?" Hawksbill asked, "You were defending us! You're the reason we weren't overrun!"

She smiled, then blushed, suddenly embarrassed by the praise.

"What was that anyway?" I asked, "Your semblance right?"

"My semblance is the ability to generate force fields" She replied.

"Then how'd your arms move so crazy fast?" Hawksbill asked.

"Training I guess" She replied, blushing again.

"We're very thankful Aero" Maud put in.

She blushed harder.

"What about Cerberus?" Hawksbill asked.

I looked up, standing and looking around. "Cerberus?" I called.

No response.

"Cerberus?!" I called. Maud joined in, and so did Hawksbill.

"Cerberus Witch!"

"Cerberus!"

"Cerby!"

No response. Either complete silence or ignorance. Why he would ignore us though, I had no idea.

"You don't think-" I started, cutting myself off.

"It's possible" Maud replied.

I swore under my breath.

 _What is it?_ Floyd asked, _Less competition, right?_

 _He's extremely skilled in battle_ , I pointed out, _he'd be a useful ally_.

 _But I thought that this was a competition_ , Floyd reminded me _._

 _Not anymore_ , I told him.

"The first casualty it seems" Maud said, standing still for a moment before returning to Aero. I followed shortly after. If he couldn't hear us, it was likely that he wasn't of this world anymore. Considering Aero heard me from how deep under she was.

We sat around the blue-haired girl for a while. I looked up at the ceiling, seeing that it was crumbled and darker now, but the holes were still prominent. It was rather eerie, so I stopped looking.

"Can we get through the doorway yet?" I asked, "Hawksbill did you check before you came over here?"

He nodded, "All's good." He replied. "It's open for the time-being"

"Good to hear." I replied. "So how'd you do that?" I asked him.

"Do what?" He asked.

"Extend your staff," I replied, "and destroy the ceiling like that?"

"I thought you said this was a competition and that we shouldn't reveal anything" He joked.

"Hawksbill, this isn't a competition anymore," Maud pointed out, "this is survival. I say we all lay our abilities out on the table now, so we know who to rely on for what, and what we can even do"

"Sounds good to me" Hawksbill said.

"Starting with you" Maud adding, staring him down.

"Okay." He replied, adjusting himself, "My semblance is the ability to extend things. That's why the staff is so convenient. I'm good at slightly altering its size to hit my opponents, but not enough to give myself away. Not that that's really helpful against brainless Grimm.

"With my gauntlet I can put dust directly into Silver Star. I coated it in earth dust earlier and destroyed to ceiling much easier than it normally would have been. Also I can shoot small, explosive rounds out of either ends of the staff. They don't fire very far though, just an explosion really." He paused, then turned to me, "Your turn" He adjusted himself as I opened my mouth, as if I was about to tell a story or something.

"So in case you haven't noticed Serpent's Stinger can extend and bend like a whip, and shoot bullets out of the end." I started, "And my semblance allows me to see things in slow motion while maintaining my own normal speed in my eyes. While it appears to you guys as me moving quickly, it's really just everything moving slower for me. And that's really it. Maud?"

"Throjar Horak, my hammer, can heat up at the front, as you can tell. My small mallets can't however, but I've got a good arm at least. My semblance allows me to shrink anything I touch, which is how I store my armor"

"My semblance allows me to create force fields." Aero started, sounding much better than before, "And my daggers, Kin of Iron, can fire out the ends"

There was a brief silence.

"Well I think this was a good idea." Maud said, "Although I wish Cerberus were here. He can certainly hold his own in a fight"

"You saw him too?" Hawksbill asked, "He was nuts! Reloading bullets quicker than he could fire them"

"A single bullet too." Maud remarked, "His pistol only holds one at a time"

"He's amazing" Hawksbill said.

"He _was_ " Maud corrected him.

"Right"

"You feeling all right Aero?" Floyd asked.

"Better" She replied, trying to sit up.

I felt a slight shift in the room, and looked around.

"Cerberus?" I asked, hoping to see him emerge from the rocks.

"Dennis" Maud said.

I turned, seeing her looking up.

Glancing upwards, I saw it. The Arachnoirs were returning, streaming through the holes and over what remained of the dome ceiling.

"Please no" I said.

"We need to go" Maud said, taking Aero in her arms and standing.

"You think?" I asked, turning towards the door. Hawksbill was already on his way.

"Come on guys!" He called, stopping long enough to wave us over.

We followed after him, reaching the open doorway. Maud stepped through it, Aero in her arms. I glanced back one last time, hoping to see Cerberus, but only seeing the oversized spiders descending on the crushed ground.

"Hurry it up Dennis!" Maud called, "Do you want the door to close up again?"

"N-no" I replied, stepping through the doorway without any resistance and following everyone down the path.

Behind us the Arachnoirs were unable to penetrate the shield over the doorway that had stopped us already before.


	5. Chapter 5

We all stopped in the tunnel and leaned over to catch our breath. Despite not having to run or work too hard, we were exhausted, likely from the panic.

"The hell kind of trial is this?!" Hawksbill gasped.

"One that really wants to test us" I replied.

"Are you kidding me?" Hawksbill asked, straightening, "That damn guy's trying to kill us!"

"You don't have any evidence to support that" I pointed out, catching my breath.

"You don't have any to go against it!" He retorted, "And I have enough evidence to prove this guy to be a killer." He gestured to the struggling Arachnoirs not ten feet away, "This trial, right here. How is anyone supposed to survive an onslaught like that?"

"We did" Aero pointed out.

"Cerberus didn't!" Hawksbill retorted sharply.

"But we did." Maud said, echoing Aero, "There can only be one victor. That's what I'm assuming, anyway"

Hawksbill didn't know what to say. He turned and punched the rock wall, the contact of his fist and the rock erupted into a loud _crack!_

"We survived by a fluke." He finally said. "We're the lucky ones"

"Then he's judging us based on luck?" I asked, confused.

Hawksbill didn't reply.

"When I get out of here," he started, "I'm going to strangle that bastard"

"But that would make you no better than him" Floyd pointed out.

Hawksbill clenched his fists, then turned and walked down the tunnel, "Let's get out of here" he finally said.

Maud lifted Aero up and put her arm around her. I wrapped her other arm around my shoulder and we both carried her after Hawksbill.

There was no food room waiting for us on the other side, which surprised everyone except Hawksbill, who seemed to be convinced that Rocco Trask was the devil himself.

As the winding tunnel continued Aero regained her strength and was able to walk on her own.

"That was quite amazing there, Aero" I said as we walked.

"Oh," she blushed, "thanks"

"Why do you always blush?" Maud asked her.

"What?" She asked, blushing.

"There!" She pointed her finger right at her face, "You blushed. Why?"

She shrugged, "I'm just not used to talking to people I guess" She replied, her face holding on to its bright red color.

"It's pretty cute if you ask me" Maud said.

I suddenly remembered what Maud had said when we first met. _Is she hitting on Aero?_ I wondered, _Probably better not to ask. Not right now at least_.

We eventually arrived in a square-shaped room, much smaller than the previous one. There was a stretch of land after the tunnel, then open space. At the end of the open space was more flat land, then the next tunnel. In the center of the emptiness was a thick, circular platform. I couldn't see under it, but for all I knew it was floating.

"What's so special about this room?" Maud asked.

"Haven't you ever played a video game before?" Floyd asked.

"Duh" She replied.

Floyd pointed to the circular platform, "We fight something on there." He replied, "Chances are it'll be something a little bigger. Like a boss battle or something"

"Maybe an Ursa?" Maud suggested.

"That would make sense" Floyd replied.

Hawksbill leapt right onto the platform and drew Silver Star.

"Hawksbill, wait!" Floyd called.

"Come at me Rocco!" He yelled, ignoring me.

 _He's still on that eh?_ I thought.

Suddenly there was a mechanic, scraping sound, and two massive Ursa dropped down onto the other side of the platform. _That certainly isn't natural,_ I thought.

The platform tipped downward on their side sharply. Hawksbill was caught off guard and stumbled forward. The Ursa both had their claws fastened tightly into the platform already, and their jaws were spread wide open, awaiting Hawksbill's bones.

I activated my semblance and charged forward, watching Hawksbill slowly descend towards the creatures.

However, what I witnessed was a sudden, pure burst of power and anger. Hawksbill swung Silver Star at the last second and set off two explosions, one on each of the left Ursa's claws. It broke free and slid down into the darkness below.

Silver Star stuck into the ground right before the second Ursa could react, and Hawksbill launched himself backwards, landing on the other end of the platform, causing it to mostly even out.

The Ursa scampered back up onto the platform and faced Hawksbill. It snarled through barred fangs, charging and taking a swipe at the thin man. He slid to the side, stumbling as the platform tilted yet again. Making his way around the Ursa, he launched a final explosion at the bear's back. A large, red crater formed on its spine, and it fell into the abyss below, rose petals fluttering up as it evaporated.

"Are we done here?" He asked, then turned and started towards the next tunnel.

"Hawksbill!" Floyd called.

He turned.

"That was incredibly reckless!" Floyd said.

"I won didn't I?" He asked, "Come on, Dennis, let's get this over with" He continued down the tunnel.

I sighed, following after him along with Maud and Aero.


	6. Chapter 6

The tunnel winded right and left, and it was actually rather draining. Twisting and turning constantly, for what felt like an eternity.

"How much longer does this go on for?" Maud whined.

"Typically these tunnels go for almost an hour." Floyd replied, "Or at least it feels that way. I don't have a clock down here with me or anything"

Maud sighed heavily, "Ugh!" She groaned, "This is so boring"

"How much longer are we going to go through this?" Aero asked.

"I just answered that question…" Floyd replied.

"No," Aero started, "I mean how many more trials are there?"

"Beats me." Floyd replied, sighing, "Hopefully not many more"

"I feel like it can't get much worse than that Arachnoir arena." Maud said, "Or at least I can't think of anything worse"

"Neither can I" Floyd said.

"What about Nevermores?" Aero suggested, "Or King Taijitus?"

"A King Taijitu." Floyd said, "That sounds more likely than a Nevermore. We are underground, after all. I don't know about you, but I haven't seen a single pigeon down here, much less a giant man-eating crow"

"Right" Aero replied.

The tunnel finally opened up into a room full of food.

Maud gasped, "Finally!" She cried out, charging into the room with renewed vigor and digging into all the food lining the shelves, without even first grabbing a plate.

Aero and I grabbed some plates and covered them. Hawksbill eyed the food suspiciously.

"If Trask wanted to kill us," I started, "he wouldn't leave food out for us. Sit down, Hawksbill, rest. Have a bite"

"If he wanted to kill us he would have poisoned the food" He pointed out.

"We had food earlier," I said, "I don't know about you, but I think we're all pretty alive here"

"Cerberus isn't"

"He didn't even eat any of this food." I pointed out, "Doesn't that say something?"

Hawksbill sighed, not moving.

I turned back to my food and kept eating.

After a few moments I heard a clatter and looked up, seeing Hawksbill place a plate of food on the table and sit down just across from me. He didn't make eye contact, but he started eating.

"Why do you keep talking about Cerberus?" Aero asked.

"What?" He asked, turning to her.

"Why do you keep referring back to him? I thought you hated him" She asked.

"I do." He replied, "But he's the only one who's died so far. I can't compare the madness of these trials without referencing the death of another, which in this case is Cerberus"

"I see" She replied, continuing to eat.

"What are we even going to gain from this?" Maud asked, finally deciding to join us at the table, her plate stacked with food. "I can't remember"

"We were going to lead an army, I believe" Floyd replied.

Maud snorted, "What's so special about that?" She asked, "That makes this just an eccentric job interview"

"Why are we even doing this then?" Hawksbill asked.

"None of us knew what we were getting into until that door shut behind us." Floyd replied, "And even then I don't think any of us could have foreseen what would happen next"

"So what now?" Aero asked as we continued to eat.

"We don't have a heck of a lot of choice in the matter." Floyd replied, "We have to continue"

Aero looked to Hawksbill, hoping he had some better plan, "Hawksbill?" She asked.

He hesitated, not answering for a second. Finally he sighed, "What else can we do?" He asked, "We have to fight. Go along with this game of Rocco's"

Aero looked down disappointedly at her plate.

"What's up?" Maud asked her, looking away from her plate long enough to realize that something was going on with Aero.

"I'm just scared of dying here." She replied, "I have a son at home, and I don't want to leave him alone"

"You have a kid?" Maud asked, "How old are you?"

"Twenty-three" She replied.

Maud's eyes widened for a second, "Didn't expect that" She replied, going back to her food.

I was surprised too. She didn't look that old. She looked like she was still in a hunting academy or just barely out at most. She had been out of hunting school for at most two years now.

"I've won the Hunter's Tournament before." She pointed out, "I've lived long enough to be able to do that"

"We've all won it once, haven't we?" Floyd asked.

"Twice." Hawksbill said, "Long time ago, though, when I hunted full-time"

"You have that comedy thing going now, right?" Floyd asked.

He nodded, "Hunting is about a third of my work life now. I'm not what I used to be, unfortunately"

"You're still quite good" Floyd pointed out.

He smiled, "Thanks"

"I won last year," Aero said, "but just barely"

"I won the year before that" Maud said.

All eyes fell on me, expecting me to say something.

"I won six and four years ago" I replied.

"So you won the first tournament ever?" Maud asked.

"I did." Floyd replied, kicking me out of the conversation, "The competition wasn't much though. The tournament wasn't very popular then"

"No wonder you won" She joked.

I smiled at the joke, recognizing the sarcasm in her voice.

There was a moment of silence. Maud stretched and yawned, "Well," she started, "should we get moving again?" Her plate was empty, and so were ours.

"Sounds like a plan" I replied, standing. Everyone else stood and started towards the tunnel. Before I left I grabbed a thick and heavy white bun and took a bite as I walked down the tunnel. I was still a little hungry. After about ten minutes it was gone.

Five minutes later I was happy that I'd finished it when I did.

The tunnel ended abruptly into the wall of a massive room, bigger than the one where we'd fought the Arachnoirs. The tunnel exit where we stood was very high up off the ground. The room before us was rectangular, with open doorways along the walls. Two rock bridges stretched from tunnel exits down to the floor. The room was lit in such a way that made all the rocks look dark blue in some places

"Oh hell no" Maud cursed upon seeing the size of the room.

Looking past the features of the room, I saw several Grimm were already on the ground. Boarbatusks, King Taijitus, Creepers, Beowolves, everything.

"What the hell?" Maud groaned, "Why is this happening?"

Suddenly there was a screech, and a massive Nevermore streaked past us. The gust of wind blew us back, mostly from surprise.

"Alright," I said, deciding to take charge, standing and reaching for the hilt of Serpent's Stinger, "we need to find the tunnel exit, and find out if we can get through it. Got it?"

Everyone nodded, almost in sync.

"Then let's get a move on." I said, "We should split up, just to cover more ground and find the tunnel quicker. Maud comes with me. Aero and Hawksbill, stick together. We can't have anyone else dying"

"Of course" Hawksbill said.

"Maud?" I asked, turning to her. Her face was serious, and as she adjusted her armor she nodded.

"Let's rip these bastards apart" She replied.

With that I leapt, blade drawn. Maud followed, and so did Hawksbill and Aero.

Using my aura to lighten the fall, I charged, Maud right behind me.

"Hawksbill, Aero," I called, "cover the right side. We'll take the left"

"Sounds good" Hawksbill said, his silver staff already in hand.

The Grimm were waiting for us, and we were immediately faced by three Boarbatusks and six Creepers.

"Maud, can you take the Boarbatusks?" I asked.

"Already on it" She replied, drawing her hammer and starting its heat-up.

I swung out Serpent's Stinger, the blade extending and slicing the first Creeper in half. As two more approached, I spun, slicing their lower jaws off. They tried to keep fighting, so I put a bullet in each one's head. Two more were charging towards me, and the last was in the air, just behind me. I swung out my blade in a figure-eight motion, cutting open their necks, then spun around and fired a bullet into the air, sending the Creeper to the afterlife.

Turning to Maud, I saw three partially melted Boarbatusks left in her wake.

"Not bad" I said when we met back up.

"Less talk, more action" She said, starting to run again.

I didn't say anything, but instead kept up my pace with her.

The Nevermore screeched above us. I glanced up, "I got it." I said, "Don't die"

"Of course" She replied.

I looked around for a means of reaching the bird. Suddenly a King Taijitu dropped down before me, its tail hanging onto one of the elevated bridges still. Seeing the opportunity, I charged towards the black snake and leapt over its snapping fangs, landing on the base of its neck. Sheathing Serpent's Stinger for a moment, I sprinted up the snake's body, reaching the bridge and leaping before its second, white head could attack. The Nevermore was already crossing. Serpent's Stinger came back out, and I stabbed it forward, puncturing the black bird's neck as it flew by. It screeched in pain as I pulled myself up onto its back.

Drawing the blade from its neck, I wrapped my fingers around its feathers and jabbed my sword under its skull armor and yanked the trigger of my blade multiple times, blowing the armor clean off and sending the bird soaring to ground, where it destroyed a bridge before crashing into a wall.

Hopping off, I saw Hawksbill and Aero fending off a King Taijitu and three full-grown Ursa.

As I charged in to help, Hawksbill called, "This is our side! Get back to your post!"

I smiled and veered off to run back to Maud, who was now fending off the King Taijitu that I'd climbed.

Leaping into the air, I launched a flurry of bullets at the massive snake, only to have its white head appear before me. I sighed as it swung its head, hitting me aside. I slammed into the ground on my front and felt the snake hissing down my neck. Rolling over before it could strike; I stood back up to my feet and swung Serpent's Stinger, leaving several scars in the snake's face. It hissed and tried to bite me. Dodging to the side, I swung out my blade and ripped its left cheek open. It hissed, turning back towards me. I swung my blade through its cut cheek and fired off a round down its throat. While it was stunned, I ran to its neck and hacked off its head, but only after multiple swings.

The black head on the other side had a hammer lodged in its melted skin. Maud struggled to pull it free, but when she did it was clear that the Grimm was dead.

After a quick nod of acknowledgement to one another, we continued forward, cutting down all the Grimm in our path.

Finally we reached the back of the room, rose petals flying all around us from the Grimm. We met up with Hawksbill and Aero at the end, and saw that a small tunnel was dug into the wall, several feet above us. Obviously it wasn't as hidden as I initially thought it would be.

Hawksbill stuck Silver Star into the ground next to the wall. "Grab on" he instructed us. We gripped the staff and he used his semblance to extend it up to the tunnel. We climbed through and rested for a moment. We were all exhausted, our auras depleted and our lungs out of breath. We were all a little bloody, having earned some bruises and scars in the trek across the room.

"That wasn't as bad as the Arachnoirs, was it?" I asked between breaths.

"Definitely not" Hawksbill replied.

"Still," Maud panted, "I'm bloody tired"

"How many more are left?" I wondered aloud.

We sat down, leaning against the walls with our legs sticking out to touch the walls on the other side of the tunnel.

After I caught my breath I brought up the idea of continuing on, but that proposal was quickly shot down.

"Not everyone recovers as quickly as you do" Maud had said when I made the suggestion.

For at least ten, fifteen, maybe even thirty minutes, we rested. During that time I decided to take a nap. However long we'd been down here, it was long enough to make me feel the need to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

When I awoke I saw that everyone else had dozed off, save for Hawksbill, who sat facing the exit and watching the massive room. I shuffled my position so that I faced the same direction. The Grimm had already begun to gather on the ground near our position.

"Look at that," Floyd said, "they're back for more"

Hawksbill snorted, "Right" He replied.

I hesitated, "You okay?" Floyd asked, "I mean, other than about the whole 'trial trying to kill us' thing"

He shook his head, "I just want to go home." He replied, "I'm starting to wonder if we'll even make it out alive"

"Trask never did really explain that we were risking our lives here, did he?" Floyd said.

"Right." He replied, "I'm just a little tired. I want to go home, and if not that, I want to see my little brother again"

"Oh yeah, Bole" Floyd said, remembering his name surprisingly easily.

There was a pause.

"Dennis?" He asked.

"Yes?" I replied, pushing Floyd aside to answer the question.

"If I don't make it out alive," he started, "deliver Silver Star to Bole, will you?"

I paused, then nodded, "Sure" I replied.

"Thanks" He smiled.

I heard a yawn behind me and turned, seeing Maud stretching her arms out with her mouth gaping open.

"'Morning chumps," she mumbled, "ready to move on?"

"Sure am" I replied, standing. Hawksbill did as well.

Maud crawled over to Aero and shook her shoulder gently.

"Rise and shine princess" She said.

Slowly she opened her eyes to Maud staring directly at her. Rubbing her eyes, she realized that what she was seeing wasn't a dream, and stretched, yawning at the same time.

"Let's get a move on, Aero." Maud said, standing, "Chances are, we're far from finished"

The young girl stood, standing on her toes to stretch her legs before turning towards the rest of us. We were all stretched and ready, so we started down the tunnel.

I had this feeling in my gut that this was the end, whether it was the end of the trials or the end of our lives, I couldn't tell, but the next trial felt like it would be the last.

"Aero," Floyd started. She turned from where she walked in front of me. Suddenly Floyd stepped back in my mind, and I was left to try to fill in whatever question Floyd was about to ask, "Um," I started, "just out of curiosity, do you have any family above ground?"

She nodded, seeming solemn all of a sudden, likely remembering the family that she would potentially be leaving behind. "Both my parents are still around," she replied, "and my sister, Livie. She's pregnant with her first child. And my son, Dodger. What about you?"

I suddenly realized how much experience Aero truly had. Not only had she won a Hunter's Tournament, but she had her own child. _You know she mentioned that already, right?_ Floyd told me.

 _No she didn't_ , I retorted.

 _Yes, she did_ , Floyd replied matter-of-factly.

 _I'm not paying attention_ , I pointed out.

"N-not really." I replied, "My dad died a while back, but my mom's still around, and my sister, Teagan"

"I see," She replied, "How did your father die, if you don't mind me asking?"

"He was out hunting," I replied, "and his team abandoned him when he was attacked by some giant Grimm"

"Oh," she said, "I'm so sorry about that"

"Bah," I replied, waving it off with my hand, "I haven't really thought about it"

"Where was it?" Hawksbill suddenly put in from where he walked behind me.

"In the mountains," I replied, "Mount Ribeiro, I believe"

"Harsh." He said, "What were they doing up there?"

"They accepted a job to hunt a Grimm hiding up there. Clearly it didn't work out for them too well" I replied.

"Dang, that's sucks"

"He went out doing what he loved" I said simply.

"What about a wife, or a girlfriend?" Aero asked, addressing both Hawksbill and I.

"Nay," I replied, "I haven't gotten around to it"

Hawksbill shook his head, "I just broke up with someone, so no" He replied.

"Love is for pansies, eh Dennis?" Maud said, turning around while she walked and holding out her fist to me, expecting me to bump it against hers.

"It's not that I'm not interested," I started, "I just haven't met the right person"

"Pff!" Maud snorted, "Romance. It's a hilarious concept if you ask me"

"Why do you say that?" Aero asked her.

"Did you not pay attention when you first arrived?" She asked, "I'm a lesbian, which isn't exactly all that common around here. I've mostly given up on the idea"

"Just like that?" Aero asked.

"Just like that" Maud echoed.

"Why would you give up so easily?" She asked.

"I didn't give up easily," Maud pointed out, "I went through all of my school years trying to find someone, and even afterwards a little. But I never found the right person, as Dennis said. It's just way more difficult to find to find the right one for you when you're gay, considering the limitations, you know?"

"I get it" Aero replied simply.

"That doesn't necessarily mean you should give up," Hawksbill started, "Just because it's unlikely, doesn't mean it won't happen. It's even less likely if you stop trying, you know"

"I know," She replied, "but I've wasted enough of my life looking. I'm feeling pretty done with it"

We all figured that there was no swaying her mind, so we stopped asking.

Maud turned back around, and we fell silent.

"What was your old girlfriend like, Hawksbill?" Aero said, breaking the silence.

"Well she seemed to be a bit confused, first off. Her name was Nicole Rozovyy, and apparently she didn't know we were dating until we broke up, so that made it weird" He replied.

"I think that you were the confused one there, Hawksbill" Aero said.

"No way," He retorted, "she was leading me on, for sure. She was interested"

"Did she find someone else then?" Aero asked.

"No," he replied, "She said that she 'didn't want to be in a relationship at the time'. Women, eh?"

"That's not something you should say to one" she pointed out.

"Oh right." He said, "Well anyways, it was misleading and it bothered me. And hurt just a little"

"Right in the feels?" Maud teased.

"Shut it" Hawksbill replied sternly. Suddenly he wasn't in such a good mood again.

Maud stopped, and Aero bumped into her. "Oof!" She grunted.

"What's the hold-up?" I called.

"We've reached the next room" Maud replied, but decided not to elaborate.

We all looked past her, and eventually managed to accidently push her out into the open room. Looking around, I realized that there was no tunnel at the end, but instead a dark figure. It appeared to be a man, with pale white skin and a black mist shrouding his entire body. His face, chest, and muscular arms were visible through the mist, however. His arms were chained up to the ceiling, and he stood on the ground, completely still.

"What is that?" Hawksbill asked, "A Grimm?"

Maud drew Throjar Horak, and the hammer started to heat up, "Whatever it is, let's just kill it. Move on as quickly as possible"

She walked up to where it stood on a slightly elevated slab of rock. Raising her hammer above her head, she got ready to swing. Suddenly the creature shrieked. Maud tumbled backwards in shock, and the mist of the figure spiked sharply. The chains snapped, and suddenly the creature began to evolve. Its fingers grew into long, black claws, and so did its toes. I was able to see now that its eyes were glowing bright red, and that its nose and mouth protruded forward, like a snout. It had pointed, black ears atop its head, and sharp fangs lining its jaws. It appeared to be like a Beowolf, but still human.

"What is it?" Hawksbill asked.

"I don't care what you call me." The creature replied suddenly, its voice was hoarse and deep, "Grimm. Human. Death. It doesn't matter to me"

I drew Serpent's Stinger, not even hesitating. This creature was hostile, and it needed to be dealt with. I assumed it was another trial, so either way it needed to be taken down.

Maud stood back up, hammer in hand. "I'll tear you apart!" She screamed, then charged, hammer heating up again.

Suddenly a black sword appeared in the Grimm's hand, and he stabbed her through the gut.

"Maud!" Floyd called. He started to walk but I stopped after taking a few quick steps forward, hesitant to engage the monster in combat.

Throjar Horak fell to the ground, and her hands went to pulling the blade from her body. The Grimm growled, driving it deeper.

All of a sudden, the sword in the Grimm's hands began to divide down the middle, slowly creating a bigger and bigger hole in Maud's gut.

I activated my semblance. I'd seen enough. Charging forward, blade raised, I leapt into the air towards the creature. Somehow it saw through me, and simply slapped me aside with its free hand. I pushed myself off the ground, just in time to see Maud split in half, right down the middle. Blood erupted all around her, forming a pool so big one could swim in it.

"Oh shit! Maud!" Hawksbill cried, "What the hell are you?!"

"I told you." The Grimm replied, "I don't care what you call me"

It's split ended blade reformed back into a regular sword.

Then it charged.

I activated my semblance as it neared Aero and fired off four bullets. They broke the Grimm's skin, and sent it stumbling off course. It stopped right before the wall and turned to me. It charged, and so did I. Activating my semblance again at the last second, I made a leaping motion, but quickly turned and dodged to the side, swinging Serpent's Stinger and slicing its right arm off.

The Grimm coughed up bright red blood, then turned around to face me.

Aero and Hawksbill charged it, weapons drawn. With a sword in its left hand it deflected each of their attacks. I charged towards his disabled side, seeing the obvious opening. _What a dummy_ , I thought as I swung my blade.

A new arm sprouted from the stub, and a black shield appeared in its hand, blocking my attack. _What the heck?_ I thought, _How is this possible?_

I saw it turn to me and smile menacingly. It leapt backwards, away from us and our flailing weapons.

"We've got to be smart about this guy," I said, "Clearly its intelligent"

"No duh." Hawksbill replied, "What should we do?"

It transformed its shield into an identical sword to its other one and charged towards us.

"I don't know," I replied, "but he ain't giving us time to figure it out"

I rolled to the side, hoping to avoid its swinging blades. When I looked up I saw Hawksbill still standing in its path.

"Move!" I called.

The Grimm neared him, and he sidestepped, swinging out his flaming Silver Star and clothes-lining the Grimm right in the snout. There was a loud _CLANG!_ , and the Grimm fell backwards, its back sliding along the ground.

Slowing down time, I charged, blade held upside in my hand. I was readying for the finishing blow. Leaping into the air, I stabbed downwards, driving Serpent's Stinger through its chest.

Twisting the blade just to make sure, I drew it from its body. It was stained bright red. I stepped away from the body, but soon I saw the wound close itself, and it stood, facing me with an angry yet happy expression on its face.

"Surprised?" It asked. I was too stunned to move as it raised its claws above its head.

"Dennis!" Hawksbill called, snapping me back to my senses. I was too late, but Aero wasn't. She appeared right in front of me, casting a force field around her body, which I was able to hide behind. The Grimm's claws made their mark on her shield and bounced back. It growled angrily. A war hammer appeared in its hand, and it swung again, this time with a weapon. Still it bounced off.

Hawksbill appeared behind the Grimm and jabbed Silver Star into its back. It started to turn around when Hawksbill activated his semblance, extending his staff and sending him flying backwards. The Grimm's skin was harder than I thought. Hawksbill hit the wall, and the staff still did push its way through the Grimm's skin. The end of the staff was bright red with its blood. The Grimm coughed up more blood, grabbing the shaft in both hands.

Aero and I took this opportunity and swung out our blades, hitting the creature with everything we had. We coated it in bloody scars, making them quicker than it could heal. It screeched in pain, blood spewing from its jaws as it roared.

After at least a minute of slashing the Grimm was enveloped by light, droplets of glowing whiteness being absorbed into its body.

"Get out of the way!" I screamed, leaping backwards and landing on my back. Aero leapt to the right, and Hawksbill drew his staff back.

The Grimm was coated by a large, deep blue orb. Bolts of lightning struck out all around it and thunder boomed. The orb exploded, and the Grimm was gone. Blue shrapnel flew out from where the explosion had occurred, but it soon faded into thin air.

I sat up, looking at where the Grimm had once been. It'd left no crater, no destruction to the walls or ceiling. The room was completely intact.

Standing, I saw Aero pushing herself back to her feet. Hawksbill was pressed into the wall, revealing the only damage done to the room by the explosion in the form of a few cracks behind him.

"You okay?" I asked Aero. She turned, then nodded. We both turned to Hawksbill.

"Hawksbill?" I asked, "You okay?"

He looked up at us, his expression angry. I stopped dead in my tracks. The look he gave me was enough to make a man cry, or give an elder a heart attack.

"What's up?" I asked, hesitantly taking a step back. He was starting to freak me out.

Suddenly he charged.

Serpent's Stinger came up, blocking Silver Star.

"What are you doing Hawksbill?!" I cried, "It's me! Dennis!"

I felt a strong wind push me back, likely from his staff. My feet skidded against the rock. He charged again. I heard a gunshot, and Hawksbill fell flat on his face.

Kicking his weapon aside I placed my foot on his back, "Explain yourself, Hawksbill" I demanded.

He grabbed my ankle and smiled menacingly.

Aero kicked him hard in the face, and his head dropped back to the ground. He kept smiling though, which was a little creepy.

"What was up with that?" I wondered aloud

Aero shrugged, "Maybe it had to do with the explosion" She suggested.

"Maybe," I replied, "but we weren't affected. At least, I don't feel the desire to kill you. Do you want to kill me?"

"No." She replied, "But I also didn't get hit by the explosion. Maybe he did"

"I suppose that's a possibility" I said.

We stood still for a moment, staring at his body.

"Should we wait for him to wake up?" I asked.

"Sounds good" Aero replied.

I sat down and took another look around the room. It was oval-shaped, and the walls protruded out in various places. There was no exit tunnel, so I assumed that this was the final trial. To me it looked more like a chamber made to fight in, like a small arena. The far half of the room was elevated slightly, like a stage. But again, the elevation was very small. The broken chains hung from the ceiling, where the Grimm had freed itself.

Then my eyes fell on Maud's remains.

I stood and approached her body. Aero watched me for a second, but when she realized where I was going she looked away.

Maud's face was no longer recognizable; it was so bloody and torn. Her armor was reduced to metal scraps. I almost puked when I saw where she'd been split in half, and walked a few feet away. Expectedly, I found myself heaving and puking all over the ground. I saw the partially digested bun that I'd eaten already a while ago in my white vomit. Wiping off my mouth, I went and rejoined Aero with Hawksbill.


	8. Chapter 8

It took a while, but Hawksbill did wake up.

I stood, and my hand went to Serpent's Stinger.

He looked around, then saw me, standing and tense.

"Is that Grimm still here?" He asked.

"No" I replied.

"Then why're you so tense?" He asked, "Jeez"

"You tried to kill me a little while ago"

"What? No I didn't!"

"You did" Aero said. I noticed that she was on her feet, daggers lowered but in her hands.

"How?" He asked.

"Were you hit by the explosion?" I asked.

"Yeah?" He replied.

I looked over at Aero, "Then that confirms it" I said.

She nodded, "Looks that way"

Hawksbill rubbed his forehead, "Oh," he said, then winced, "man, my head hurts"

"Aero had to knock you out" I said.

He looked over at her, "Be a bit gentler next time" He said.

I sheathed my blade and held out my hand, snickering, "Looks like your back to normal"  
Floyd said. He took my hand and I helped pull him to his feet.

"Well," he started, "what now?"

"That's the million Lien question, isn't it?" Floyd asked, looking around the room.

Hawksbill suddenly covered his mouth. I turned, realizing that he'd seen Maud.

"I puked too." Floyd said, patting him on the back, "Let it out"

His mouth opened, and everything he'd ever eaten seemed to explode all over the ground. A mix of green, brown, white, and some color I couldn't even name were among what came out.

When he finished he looked away, "I can't believe she's dead" He said.

"Yeah" I replied. Floyd didn't try to butt in to say anything else.

We stood in silence for a moment. Hawksbill picked up Silver Star and stuck it into the ceiling, which was much lower than the previous rooms.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Getting us out of here." He replied, "Whether or not I'm supposed to do this, I'm getting us out of here. I'm done"

I assumed that he pumped Earth dust into the staff, and the ceiling collapsed in a focused area around the staff.

"At least you didn't destroy the entire ceiling this time" Floyd joked.

He smiled, "Of course," he replied, "we don't want what happened in that arena to happen here"

Through the hole he'd created I glimpsed a bit of light.

"To the right," I said, "looks like there's an opening"

"Gotcha" he replied, repositioning the staff and blowing out the ceiling. Sure enough, there was an exit revealed. It was cylinder-shaped, with ladder rungs running along it. Rocco Trask was just descending down the last few rungs.

"I was about to open it for you," he said, "but I guess that works too"

I expected Hawksbill to pounce on him, but he didn't. He stayed still, keeping his eyes fixed on the grey-haired man.

"Well, don't just stand there," he said, "come on up" He started climbing back up the ladder. His body mostly obstructed the light above, so it wasn't particularly difficult to stare up at him.

I leapt into the air, grabbing the lowest rung and pulling myself upwards. As I began to climb Rocco got out, and the light from the sun blinded me. I almost fell backwards in surprise, but managed to catch myself at the last second.

Back on the surface, I felt dizzy. The light was so dazzling, and I fell right over onto my butt.

"Feel good?" Rocco asked me.

I looked up, "Yeah," I replied, running my fingers through the green grass, "it's really refreshing"

Aero sat down next to me, but Hawksbill remained standing. He walked straight up to Rocco.

"I've got a beef to pick with you, Trask" He said, roughly grabbing his shirt collar.

"I know" He replied simply.

They stood in silence for a second. Then Hawksbill let go, "What?" He asked, "No justification for your actions? No protesting?"

Rocco shrugged, "I can't justify contributing to the murder of two hunters" He replied.

Hawksbill didn't seem to know what to say. He was looking for a fight, but he received the opposite. "What was the point of all this, anyway?" He finally forced out.

"To determine which of you was worthy of leading the army I've been working on" He replied.

"What kind of army is this?"

"A human army, I can promise you that." Rocco replied, "It's all for the greater good"

Hawksbill stared at him for s second, but eventually came and joined us on the ground. "I got no idea what to do with this guy" He said.

"Just leave him be." Floyd said, "It was the trial that killed them. I think that we should have known that we were in danger, even if it wasn't directly said"

Aero nodded.

"I have a picnic awaiting all of you," Rocco said, butting into the conversation, "it's just at the end of the cliff there, if you interested"

We all stood, and I suddenly realized how hungry I was. As we walked I slowed so that I was next to Rocco.

"How long were we down there?" I asked.

"Almost one day," he replied, "It's morning, and you all arrived after lunch. So about seventeen or so hours I believe"

My eyes widened in surprise, "Really?" I asked.

"Yep," he replied, "it was mesmerizing to watch. Every second of it"

"You were watching?" I asked, not surprised in the least.

"Of course," he replied, "how else would I know which of you would be worthy to lead the army? If you all survived, that is. In this case, three of you did"

"Right." I replied, "So who did you choose?"

"You" He replied.

"Really?" I asked.

He nodded, "You displayed leadership, especially towards the end. Which is more than anyone else did." He replied, "But you always seemed like the unofficial leader of them in my eyes"

"So what about Aero and Hawksbill?" Floyd asked.

Rocco took off his glasses and looked at them, searching for smudges. He rubbed them on his shirt, looked them over again, and placed them back on his face with satisfaction.

"There is yet one more trial." He said, reaching to his side with his left hand. I couldn't see what he was grabbing. Then he produced a large silver revolver. "There can be only one winner"

"What do you expect me to do with that?" Floyd asked.

"There are two bullets." He replied, "And three of you. It's the last trial, so it's your choice"

 _What the hell?_ Floyd thought, _This guy's crazy!_

I reached out and took the revolver.

 _What are you doing?!_ Floyd demanded, _After all we've been through? Shoot Rocco! Get out of this place!_

 _It's what I've been seeking after this entire time_ , I told him, _I can't turn it down now._ I raised the gun and pointed it forward.

Suddenly Floyd took over. _No! Think about it! You love these people, Dennis! Are you just going to throw away your only friends?!_ I was forced to lower the gun by my father.

 _I never bonded with them_ , I told him, fighting to raise the gun again, _You did, remember?_

I felt him gasp and took the opening. I aimed the gun at Aero's head, and pulled the trigger. The sound shattered the silence around us. The young woman dropped dead, and Hawksbill spun around, a mix of fear and horror sprayed across his face.

"No!" Floyd burst out, "Aero!"

"Get out of here Floyd!" I yelled, hitting myself in the head.

"How could you do this?!" Floyd screamed.

"Get the hell out!" I screamed back, raising the revolver and aiming straight at Hawksbill.

He raised his hand, slowly stepping backwards until he fell to the ground and began to crawl back.

"What are you doing, Dennis?!" He cried, tears and snot rolling down his face. I was mere feet away from him.

 _You just murdered someone's mother!_ Floyd cried in my mind.

 _Shut up_ , I told him, _It's no different from anyone else we've killed._

"P-please, Dennis!" Hawksbill cried, "Stop!"

My finger went to the trigger of the gun, and I was ready to pull.

"Why?" He begged.

"There can be only one" I said simply, mentally fighting off Floyd as he struggled to break free of my mind and reach out to Hawksbill with my voice.

He cried. Bawled, actually

I started to pull the trigger.

"Wait!" He screamed, "If this is what you want to do, please." He paused, then offered up Silver Star, his arms shaking, "Deliver this to my broth-"

I pulled the trigger, cutting him off. Floyd was getting close to taking me over, so I had to take action. I dropped the gun, finally allowing my alter ego to take over my body. I fell to my knees, and felt tears roll down my cheeks.

"I'll take of it, Hawksbill" I managed to say through Floyd's crying.

I sat there for a long while, allowing Floyd to mourn the loss of his friends.

Deep down in my heart, I felt a horrible feeling of grief for the dead, and remorse for my most recent actions.

Rocco placed his hand on my shoulder, "You did well." He said, "Now come on, we have business to attend to."

* * *

 **And that's the last chapter, in case you were wondering. Kind of abrupt, I know, but it's only a back story. Now if you haven't already, ya'll should go check out HellFall, my other fanfiction in which this story branches off from. That is, if you liked this story. If you didn't then don't bother with HellFall, you'll probably be even less intrigued by it. But I do hope you all enjoyed The Candidates! Hit it up with a review if you feel so inclined, and maybe a favorite too if you feel that way about it.**


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